Bengaluru: KPCC working president Dinesh Gundurao may have become the Mani Shankar Aiyer of Karnataka in pollbound Karnataka with his attack on UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath snowballing into a huge controversy and the BJP deciding to not just hold statewide protests but also petition the Election Commission in a bid to ban him from contesting the Gandhinagar seat.
While participating in a candle-lit protest held by KPCC against the heinous rape incidents in UP and and Jammu and Kashmir of an under-age teenager and an eight year old, respectively, at Maurya Circle on Friday evening, Mr Rao launched an acerbic attack on Mr Adityanath. He began by saying that atrocities on women had gone up under Mr Adityanath's rul and said: "He is not a Yogi. He is a Dhongi (fake). Prime Minister should sack him."
Mr Gundu Rao said if Mr Adityanath came to Karnataka he should be sent him back. "If he comes next time to Karnataka, he should be beaten with your sandals. Drive him out," he said.
Within an hour, the BJP had taken note of the TV clipping and announced that it would launch a state-wide agitation against Mr Rao's statement.
Party general Secretary Ravi Kumar told reporters that the BJP demanded an apology from AICC president Rahul Gandhi. "Mr Gandhi should apologise and sack Mr Rao. The BJP would launch statewide agitation against Mr Rao and the Congress party."
Cornered by derogatory statements previously made by Union minister of state Anant Kumar Hegde, the BJP had been on the defensive.
However, a BJP spokesperson said that with Mr Rao using derogatory words against the UP chief minister, the Congress party might have given a "huge issue" to the opposition BJP.
The U.P. chief minister is reportedly close to the Adichunchungiri math swamiji as both he and the U.P leader are close and are class fellows. "We see this as an insult of the Nath sect," the BJP official said, with others indicating that it would be used by the BJP to score points against the Congress, turning it into a Lingayat versus Vokkaliga war of words.
Mr. Gundurao could not be reached for comment.
